


no words needed

by brumel



Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkward Romance, Awkward Sex, F/M, Office Romance, Unbeta'ed, basically two awkward grown ups who are each other's first loves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-07 21:29:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20461079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brumel/pseuds/brumel
Summary: sakura lives a risk-free, dull life as an office worker. it becomes less boring once sasuke joins the company.





	no words needed

there’s a new guy at the office who’s unlike anyone she’s ever met and painfully ordinary at the same time. he differs from her and naruto in that his hair color is black and his eyes are dark, and in the short time she has known him, his expressions haven’t changed. he looks at her with the same cool expression like he doesn’t care whether she exists or not.

“sakura-chan works the evening shifts,” naruto explains with a bright smile on his face, sasuke looking at anything but the two of them, and she wonders if these two are really friends, “she’s nice, you’ll like her.”

sasuke spares her a glance at her then, and in that moment she knows exactly what he’s thinking, that she will probably an annoyance and as loud and obnoxious as their bright eyed colleague.

*

the following week, sasuke draws everyone’s interest including hers, despite their first meeting and her attempts at fighting it. she’s always found him handsome despite his callous demeanour, but working with him has changed her. she finds his perfectionism and diligence attractive, and his occasional care for her wellbeing endearing. he probably does the latter because he’s well behaved and comes from a strict, traditional family, and it makes him even more ideal in her eyes.

“how did you two meet?” sakura asks naruto just as soon as he stopped complaining about his so called best friend. 

her blond haired friend grins, happy to recall good memories. “in highschool. he didn’t have any friends and stayed by himself like the loser he is. no one wanted to be the friend of a nerd.”

sakura doubts it to be the case. she can imagine countless girls had the chance to hook up with him and boys were jealous of him.

“how nice of you to offer to be his only friend,” she laughs against her palm, nudging his rib with her elbow. 

“it was hard at first, he’s a grumpy nerd who thinks he’s better than everyone,” he smiles wider as he says this, “but he’s got a good heart. he’s just bad at communicating.”

*

sakura keeps naruto’s words in mind, also noticing him staring at her when he used to keep his eyes on his work. he willingly sits with her during lunch at her request, even once offered to drive her home.

“so…tomatoes, huh?”

the words leave he mouth before she can realize how stupid she sounds. she curses her lack of interest in ino’s lessons in flirting and suppresses the urge to cringe at her first attempt at seducing the only guy she’s ever grown to like seriously.

“what about them?” sasuke asks, eyeing his plate in a bored expression.

sakura gives him a pained smile and rubs the back of her neck. “i just thought you liked them. you barely eat anything else.”

“i like them,” sasuke confirms, and she’s left with an awkward silence she doesn’t know what to do with.

thankfully, naruto slams his plate in front of them and flashes them an innocent grin, followed closely by rock lee from the accounting team. 

“you look beautiful today, sakura-san,” he says in the same usual tone he uses everyday, and sits right in front of her.

rock lee hasn’t stopped professing his love for her ever since he entered the company. it turns out aside from naruto and herself, rock lee is the only one whose presence sasuke tolerates, and she doesn’t miss how his impassive eyes looked at the two of them for an instant.

“thank you,” she says politely.

“bushy brows is turning 24 on saturday,” naruto pipes in, “and that weird uncle of his always sticks around his apartment, so i was thinking we could throw a party at my flat instead.”

“i’m busy,” sasuke says quickly.

“you never do anything,” naruto exclaims so the whole cafeteria can hear him.

“i’m not coming,” sasuke says firmly, and drops his chopsticks on his plate. she thinks he’s going to leave the three of them and walk outside to calm his nerves with a cigarette, but he remains seated next to her, grabbing his phone and angling it so no one else can see what he’s doing.

naruto doesn’t have the energy to fight him. he stares at his best friend and frowns, and quickly goes back to making plans for saturday.

*

the second time sasuke offers to drive her home, it’s raining and she’s exhausted to death, so she accepts to wet the interior of his car and bother him outside work hours.

his phone rings in his pocket while they’re stopped at a red light, so he fumbles with his pocket and answers the call.

“nii-san,” he says.

she does her best to concentrate on anything but what he’s saying, focusing instead on his handsome profile. she’s heard karin tell temari he has looks that belong on an oiled painting, and she’s right: sasuke looks dashing even with wet locks sticking to his forehead, even with a grimace on his face.

the call must have ended shortly, because before she can turn her gaze away from his he’s staring right back at her.

“what are you doing?”

she’s thankful for the darkness inside the car and his attention being partly on the red light that hasn’t turned green yet. but she can’t find an excuse for why she’s been staring at him while he wasn’t looking.

sasuke frowns and then turns to look at the road ahead. “my brother asked me to take him on the way. it’s not far from here, and i can’t refuse him.”

“it’s alright,” she says, keeping her eyes on the view her window offers in case she gives in to the temptation of staring too long at his face.

soon after the car stops and a man with long hair opens the door behind hers, taking a seat in the backseat.

“that was fast, thank you sasuke,” his brother says and she twists her body towards him, waiting for her chance to greet him, “and you have company, hello!”

“haruno sakura,” she says in a business-like voice, smiling brightly.

the lights of the street light up his face, giving her a good idea of what he looks like. there is no mistake he is sasuke’s brother. he is as handsome as him with the same dark hair and eyes, though his face has a natural warmth to it. 

“uchiha itachi,” itachi nods and lays back on his seat. he smiles and fixes his collar, “i believe you’re a colleague of my brother?”

sasuke answers him instead. “she is. which way should i go next?”

realizing her apartment is just at the corner of the end of the street, she feels disappointed at having the chance of knowing more about sasuke taken away from her. but her mind isn’t working very fast at the moment, and she can’t think of an excuse to keep him longer.

“ah...go on ahead, you can stop after the police station.”

itachi taps her shoulder when sasuke complies and a minute later the car stops at her destination. 

“it was a pleasure to meet you, sakura-san.”

sakura smiles easily, and perhaps it’s in the amused glint he has in his eyes or the warm smile on his face, but for some strange reason she believes him.

*

sakura shortens her stay at naruto’s place, the party too loud and boring for her liking. ino is too hammered to take notice of her leave, and when she takes a look at the time it’s only midnight and a half, and she’s standing on 4 inches heels at a shady subway station on a saturday night, hair disheveled and her dress sticking uncomfortably to her curves.

it's just her bad luck or a coincidence that sasuke's brother comes to find her in a formal business attire.

he instantly smiles as he advances towards her.

"sakura-san," he says warmly.

she wants to crawl into a hole and die at this moment, wondering why she had to meet him in her current state. she utterly looks...bad. 

"hello," she greets and steps inside to leave him some space on the platform.

"don't bother. i was just about to call a taxi," he tells her and she holds in a sigh of relief, "i think this is fate we met so shortly, right? i'll pay for your ride home."

he thinks i'm drunk, she realizes, and though she didn't drink much, her feet hurt from standing around in boredom and her walk from naruto's place to the subway station.

"...thank you," she just says, and follows him to wait for a taxi.

"my brother wouldn't want you waiting around at this hour."

sakura laughs. "sasuke-kun is kind, but he doesn't care that much."

itachi stops in front of her and she almost collides with him. 

"you think? he cared enough to drive you home the other night, when he could have done the same for me."

sakura doesn't allow herself to consider it, her eyes fixated on the road where their taxi will appear sooner or later. 

"which is why i'm asking you to be careful with him. i'm not the type to meddle in my brother's affairs, so i'll just say this: it's rare for sasuke to give anyone a chance, so i imagine second chances don't exist for him."

*

the warning from itachi keeps repeating in her head like a broken record, and she realizes two things over the course of her weekend: first, she likes and thinks of sasuke too much for it to be a futile crush she can make disappear. second, she's tired of waiting for the right guy to appear and sweep her off her feet, so she's actually going to do something about it.

*

which is the reason why she spends the afternoon cooking and the evening curling the end of her hair. 

the second she lays eyes on him in the cafeteria, he's sitting with naruto and glaring daggers at his food, and the timing is perfect she feels confident enough to approach him.

"hi, naruto," she returns the bright grin he gives her, and her heart thumps in her chest just as sasuke lifts his head to look at her, "sasuke-kun."

she doesn't let his silence discourage her, and presents him with a bento box she barely uses.

"i know you like tomatoes, so i cooked something for you today," she tells him.

naruto is oddly silent at sasuke's side, and the latter glares at the box like it's poisoned. 

"i don't want it."

her heart drops to her stomach.

"sasuke!" naruto hisses and shoots an understanding look sakura's way, "the hell is your problem? sakura-chan made that meal with love. even a bastard like you can't refuse that!"

she expects him to at least avoid her gaze as he talks to her next. but his eyes are cold as he addresses her.

"i don't care, and i see no reason why you would make me lunch anyway."

although his meal is left untouched and naruto tries to hold him back, he grabs his stuff and leaves, sakura staring at the proof her affections wrapped in pink and blue ribbons.

*

ino doesn't help much with the heartbreak, but she makes sakura realize how little she knew about sasuke anyway. perhaps it's better to be rejected so quickly rather than living a full time romance and finding out he isn't all that.

a week passes, and she receives a text from an unknown number.

"we need to talk."

it's him. her heart quickens at the thought, certain that sasuke has contacted her. it couldn't be anyone else.

he texts that he wants to meet later, and she decides she at least needs to know what he has to say. they're colleagues, after all, and it would be good for them to maintain a good relationship.

later in the evening, he stands at the door of her modest apartment.

"sakura."

"sasuke-kun." 

she finds it easy to smile regardless of how upset she is. she closes the door after him and waits for what he has to say.

"i'm sorry," he says.

she lifts her head to look at him. his lips are pressed into a thin line and his brows furrowed. she knows him enough to believe every word that comes out from his mouth.

"there was a misunderstanding, and i was lead to believe something about you i shouldn't have."

sakura holds her hand against her chest, commanding her hammering heart to calm down. she never believed he would be here talking about what he feels when so far, all she could get from him was small talk. 

"it's okay," she tells him in a small voice.

she swallows, and in a brief impulse of bravery, reaches for his hand to hold it in hers. "i'm happy we're talking about this like adults. i really enjoy our time together, sasuke-kun."

"you met with itachi the other day," sasuke tells her, his eyes focused on their joined hands, "he told me you were drunk and you two drove to your place, and i didn't want to hear more."

sakura listens, understanding her situation was delicate. though she doesn't understand why he would get upset over something like this. if he's upset because she's such a bad match for his brother, even though he himself tolerated her amongst all the other women in the office.

"i should be angry at itachi, not you. it's not right to assume i have ownership over you because i knew you first," sasuke says.

"i'm not dating your brother," she assures him, "and i have no intention to."

sasuke gives an audible sigh of relief, and sakura wants nothing more to be left by herself to deal with the pang of hurt churning her stomach. she's pondering over an excuse to give him to get him to leave, just when he closes the distance between them holds her against him.

her eyes widen and she's hit with the scent of his cologne, his embrace tender but deliberate. yet, she's too baffled to appreciate this.

"thank you," she says when he retreats and gazes at her face.

"i'm going to kiss you," he warns her.

she's too shocked to do anything and though her first instinct is to doubt those words, she lets herself be lead on with his hand seizing the back of her neck as his mouth comes to crash against hers. his lips are soft when they part for her, his breath hitting her with full force. 

in her dreams he kissed her hard, but this kiss is so like him: pure and simple, and it's over too soon for her taste. when he gently pulls away he allows them a few seconds to catch their breath.

"i should go now," he says just as she comes back to her senses, and turns to walk to the door.

she can only stare after him, confused and stunned, but still feeling like the happiest she's ever been in a while.

*

she starts the day with the knowledge that sasuke did kiss her and that her infatuated self didn't make that up. nevertheless, he left before she could do something about it, and the thought of him regretting it unsettles her.

so she goes on with her day without the full intent of ignoring him or seeking him out either. today of all days she stumbles upon him while he's smoking a cigarette after work, his gaze catching hers when she exits the building.

"...sakura."

she smiles. "hey."

his lips part and close like he's struggling to say something, and then he takes a drag of his cigarette and drops it on the ground.

"i can drive you home," he says instead.

"yes," she answers, and blushes, embarrassed that she responded so quickly, "okay."

she peers at their reflections in the elevator's mirrors as they descend to the private parking. sasuke looks down at his phone while she holds her handbag in front of her, some buttons of the collar of her blouse undone and her rumpled skirt making her look like a slob. 

as they make their way towards his car she realizes her heart rate has been quickening at a rate that shouldn't be normal. as she enters his car and sits on the passenger side next to him, she finds herself almost panting.

"sakura," sasuke calls and grabs her shoulder, "sakura!"

it's the last thing she hears before her world turns to black.

*

the minute she awakens she knows she's lying in the hospital bed. the sheets are itchy against her back and the sounds of the various monitors make her uneasy. she will never be courageous enough to like hospitals.

in her dazed state she makes up sasuke's profile. his phone is glued to his ear and his jacket is discarded, he's wearing the usual white shirt tucked in his black trousers all the men in the company wear. he's in the middle of a conversation when he tilts his head to check on her and meets her bewildered gaze.

she understands he's cutting down the call when one second later he dumps his phone without looking where it lands and comes close.

"sasuke-kun," she calls weakly.

"you're alright?" he asks.

"yes," she tells him, and makes a move to sit straighter in bed.

"don't move," he says, and reaches to steady her by the shoulders. she's dizzy and her head hurts a little, but he doesn't need to know that.

the nurse chooses this moment to come in, apologizing and planting herself right in front of sasuke, bending over to check something stuck to her skin and grant him the entirety of her behind. 

except his dark eyes remain on sakura for the whole time, and sakura stares back without a word. she only wishes the nurse would leave and sasuke would be by her side and worrying about her forever, and this tension that settled between them would go away.

"the doctor will see you soon," the nurse interrupts her musing and turns to sasuke. she wouldn't be surprised if she were making googly eyes at him, but instead she says, "i know you're worried, but your wife is resting, and you're making it hard for her to calm down right now."

sasuke glances at the monitor tracking sakura's heartbeats and looks down, probably confused at to how it is his fault.

"try to sleep," she tells sakura, and leaves before casting a warning look at sasuke.

sakura is left alone with him and her heart couldn't possibly calm down now that she brought it up. sasuke's eyes dart to the monitor and glances at her chest.

"i'm making it worse," he remarks.

sakura blushes and shakes her head. she peers at the window and notices the clouds and the sun high in the sky, when she remembers ending work at night. sasuke follows her train of thought, handing her phone that was previously against his ear.

"you were out for a while and your parents were worried," he explains as she takes her pink phone from his hand, "i had to tell them not to worry."

she can picture her father elated over his daughter finally getting a boyfriend, her mother alarmed that a man is answering her daughter's phone. 

"thank you, sasuke-kun," she says earnestly, "and i'm sorry for all this."

after the doctor comes and reassures her that she simply fainted from stress and exhaustion, she and sasuke agree that he should leave alone before naruto and ino come and ask unnecessary questions. 

*

she's given three days to rest and as expected, sasuke doesn't contact her even once. she returns to work without seeing or hearing from him, ino following her and clinging to her arm making it difficult for her to search for him.

ino is retained by sai after work and, as much as she adores her, sakura refuses to have her glued to her hip for the rest of her days. she got plenty of sleep in three days and the time to collect her thoughts. 

she can't suppress the gasp of relief that leaves her when sasuke grabs her wrist in her hurry to leave the building, and asks to drive her home.

"ino might take me away if you don't," she says.

once they're inside the car she feels warm and uneasy at the same time, suddenly aware of the unspoken tension between the two of them.

"naruto told me you're feeling better now," he tells her.

"did you ask him yourself?" 

sasuke sighs. "i'm gonna assume you're okay, then."

"i am. last week was stressful, that's all," she says.

they talk a little until he reaches the house and she feels her stomach turning when it comes to a stop. she's never known she could get so nervous over this type of things. 

sasuke still grips the steering wheel, staring at the window like he has no idea what to do with himself.

"we're not obliged to talk," sakura tells him, coaxing him to meet her gaze, "or confess how we feel about each other. just because everyone on TV does it doesn't mean it's the standard for every relationship."

sasuke holds her gaze as she says this and smirks, and that's how she knows she succeeded in appeasing him if only for a while. 

"it's always so easy with you," he says.

she blushes, pleasantly taken aback by the compliment. sasuke rarely compliments and if he does, it isn't the kind a woman would like to hear. 

she smiles and when sasuke claim her lips, this time she's ready. she pours all the affection she has for him into the kiss as they spend the evening learning what each other like. 

*

she stumbles into this thing they have knowing nothing about how love works though she read thousands of stories disguised as a love manual. nothing could have ever prepared her for the unpredictable force that is sasuke. 

ino comments how she looks happier, and colleagues observe them when they sit together at lunch. sakura learns to enjoy the taste of tobacco on his lips and makes excuses for the smell of smoke on her clothes. 

"go home," sasuke insists in a raspy voice as she leans in to press another kiss on his lips.

he may tell her this over and over, but his hold on her waist as he says this is strong. 

"i don't want to leave you," she whispers against his lips, hoping the tone of her voice is seductive enough to turn him into a romantic mood, "my bed is big enough for the two of us."

sasuke stiffens against her. he is so sweet that he never mentioned anything that could imply he would want to take this further. two months have passed since that time they talked inside the very same car, and any normal couple would have had sex by now.

she desperately wants to make him hers. she's been ready the second his lips brushed against hers, though a part of her fears he would want someone more experienced. 

"not tonight," he says, and she tightens her grip around his neck, whining when his arms leave her waist, "we'll sleep."

she beams and grabs his hand, leading him all the way to her apartment. once they're inside and she finishes getting ready for bed, she expects to find him standing awkwardly, but instead he's sitting half naked on her bed while she chose to put on classic pyjamas.

"it's not fair," she groans as she stares at his naked chest, holding her burning face between her palms, "you're so hot…"

sasuke frowns and shifts to throw the covers on his body, laying in her spot on her bed and hell-bent on leaving her standing here cold and alone. 

she moves through the apartment to turn off the lights, and when she comes back to him he's turning away from her and his hair covers the side of his face.

"goodnight, sasuke-kun," she whispers, secretly hoping she could say this every night of their lives.

*

she loves him so much it becomes unbearable to keep these feelings for herself, and while she expects ino to burn her alive for keeping this a secret for so long, she needs to confide in her best friend.

"i'm in love with sasuke-kun," she reveals while they're having coffee, "i'm so sorry."

ino laughs so hard her cup rattles on the table. "you think i didn't know?"

sakura looks down at her joined hands on her lap in shame.

"how long?" she asks.

"six months."

ino squeals, reaching to hold sakura's hands in hers. "how is he? i mean, i know you have no one to compare him to…"

"we haven't, yet," she says and watches her best friend's eyes widen, "he wants to wait."

"that's weird, but maybe he's the type who takes his time. or maybe he already figured out he's your first."

*  
her meeting with ino only made her crave for more, and yet she feels like she's the demanding one in this relationship and sasuke never asks for anything. 

"what's wrong with you?" he asks her while she glares at the copier spitting paper after paper.

she doesn't turn to look at him, frustrated with herself for wanting more from him. 

"nothing."

"there's obviously something," his perfume hits her nose and she freezes, thinking he's going to hold her, but he doesn't. he never dared to touch her in the workplace.

"obviously nothing that concerns you," she says thoughtlessly, hoping her words will hurt him. it's not fair that she's the only one hurting in this relationship.

his hand touches her face, coaxing her to look up at him. he cups as her cheek as he kisses her slow, the kiss languid and deliberately gentle. when they break apart she brings a finger to her lips and looks around to make sure no one has seen them.

"don't bother with them," sasuke says. he kisses her again with the same intensity and she lets him, sighing into the kiss and tangling her fingers into his soft hair.

"holy shit," someone says. 

sasuke abruptly shoves sakura behind him and glares at none other than kakashi. his mouth is hidden by a white mask but his eyes are smiling. 

"why are you hiding sakura behind you?" he asks as he stalks toward them, "i won't hurt her if that's what you're afraid of."

"just leave already," sasuke tells him with more irritation than threat. 

kakashi chuckles. "now, now, sasuke. if you were so afraid of people finding out about her, you wouldn't be making out in front of the copier, where anyone could walk in, and ask to, you know, make copies."

sakura shuffles around to gather the hundred of copies she's made, leaving sasuke to glare at kakashi. they've been discovered and she couldn't care less what the old man would say next. nobody would believe him.

"i'll see you later," she whispers to sasuke, and leaves without looking back.

*

the tension in sasuke's car as they drive to her place is so thick she could cut through with a knife. she feels it lingering in the air and in the way he handles her like she's going to break at any moment, and she hates it. 

"please come inside," she pleads when he remains seated behind the wheel.

he follows her obediently as they walk the stairs and she closes her front door behind them, lighting a cigarette once he steps into the apartment and sits on her couch next to her.

"you're upset." 

sakura wants to snort, because really? it took him a day to grasp this. he who usually understands her without words being exchanged. 

"do you care about me?" she blurts out.

it occurs to her that he hasn't touched his cigarette since he lit it.

"yes," he says.

she sighs and cups the side of his face. he looks at her, his gaze following a distinct trail, first her eyes and her nose, and then her lips. they linger there until she speaks.

"then show me. i waited enough. if you can't tell me with words, then fuck me."

he lets her hold his face in her hands as she angles it to brush her mouth against his. her knees bump against his as she claims his lips, licking and tasting, and her hands descend to his suit. 

this is it, she thinks as he allows her to slide the sleeves off his arms and soon enough he's undressing her in the same way, with trembling hands and the urge to kiss her each time he removes a piece of clothing.

once her skin is exposed to his gaze and only her underwear remains, she finds him puzzled about how to get rid of her bra. 

"you still don't know how to undress a girl?" she laughs lightly though her chest and cheeks are flushed, at least until she notices the scowl on his face.

"...oh."

his brows furrow. "does it bother you?"

her heart pounds in her chest. she hasn't even considered the idea that he could be as new to this as she is. she smiles and brings his face towards hers to kiss him hard.

deciding that she'll teach him another day, she removes her bra and bites her lip as his eyes glint with wonder. soon he's pushing her down onto the couch and exploring her with eager hands, his skin never breaking apart from hers.

*  
her body aches as she stirs next to him. he's facing away from her and she recalls the night before, when their skins slapped together and she felt him enter her for the first time. her pussy throbs as she remembers him driving himself into her and grunting on top of her. 

even now she shifts under the covers to slide her arms around him, caressing his chest, her hands crawling toward his dormant cock. if she were to insert a finger into her heat, she bets it would come out glistening with his semen.

"sakura," sasuke groans sleepily, drifting to lie on his back. 

her eyes glaze over as she takes him into her warm hand. she murmurs seductively to him as she strokes him, licking her palm to moisten his hot shaft.

"sakura..." her lover mutters and opens half lidded eyes to stare up at her. his rough hand covers her asscheek as she climbs onto his thighs, rubbing her moist slit along his cock. he moans and his hands latch on to her waist to steady her while she holds herself up over him.

his dick forces her folds open and he grunts as she shakes her hips from side to side to drive him deeper in her warm walls. yesterday she was shy to move her body against his, only urging him to stake his claim on her. but today she feels a thrill in knowing she can make him speechless with just a swivel of her hips.

she rides him slowly, her core still sensitive from last night, her movements still uncertain. it's more than enough for him. his dark eyes never leave her trembling form as she lifts herself up and descends on him, though she knows he's torn between enjoying the view and reversing their positions to fasten their pace and pump her full of his seed.

sakura falls apart and tightens around him when he alternates between deep strong thrusts and short ones that stimulate her sensitive clit.

for him, it's the repeating motions of her breasts swinging as she works his cock that unravels him. his eyes stay focused on them for a moment right before he seizes her hips, thrust up into her wildly, and cums.

*

sasuke wakes her up at three in the afternoon with a tender kiss on the back of her neck, his hand running over her stomach in soothing patterns. 

blinking lazily at him, she imagines he'll take her next with a leg thrown upon his and his cock entering her from behind, but he doesn't move to do so. his warmth temporarily leaves her to fetch his phone abandoned on her bedside table.

"sasuke-kun," she mutters in a needy voice, throwing herself at him.

"just a moment," he tells her and his eyes scan the screen of his phone.

she pouts. "you're talking to another woman."

"if by that other woman you mean my mother, yes."

his fingers fly on the keys of his phone as he sends a text to his mother, and then he's pointing towards her face and she can hear the sound of him capturing the moment.

"no!" she squeals and grabs thin air when he jerks away from her hold, "give it back!"

"i promise you no one will see this but me," he vows and throws his phone behind him on the sheets.

"i know that.." she sighs, her arms crossing over her chest defensively, "i just...this picture is excellent blackmail material."

"don't worry," he tells her, "i won't use it for that."

"then what for?" she asks and her eyes widen when he avoids her gaze, "...oh."

she's more than okay with her lover stroking himself while looking at pictures of her.

"then let me have one picture too." 

she moves to grab her pink phone shoved in the depths of her handbag but he grabs her wrist and twists her around to plant a rough kiss on her lips. 

"forget it. let's just go clean up."

she's too happy with him to fight him and the sticky feel of the sheets under them is uncomfortable. it goes without saying they spend the next hour touching each other more than washing the various fluids left on their bodies away.

*  
sasuke's mother has been bugging him to invite her over for dinner. sakura dresses in a red top exposing her shoulders and smears eyeshadow on her lids to make herself look more mature.

sasuke doesn't comment when he stops the car in front of her, though his eyes follow her every movement when she settles on the seat next to him.

the drive to his home is pleasant and sakura suspects that sasuke might be genuinely happy about her meeting his parents. her blood runs cold when he parks the car inside a garage large enough for three cars.

when she exits his car he's on her side and holding her hand, and soon they're walking to his family home and his mother comes to greet them after they take their shoes off in the entryway.

"sakura, dear," a dark haired woman greets her with a gentle smile, "we've been waiting for you! my name is mikoto."

"nice to meet you," sakura says politely, smiling in turn.

she doesn't know why she expected a stern woman to be sasuke's mother. this woman is almost similar to her own, warm and expressive.

she walks them through a corridor and sakura sees fugaku for the first time. sasuke's father doesn't smile and his traits are severe, but when she approaches him he introduces himself and gives her his full attention.

"i heard you work at the same company as my son?" he asks.

mikoto, who has been observing them with curious eyes, smiles indugently. 

"they do. they met through naruto uzumaki, and have been inseparable ever since."

"that's not what happened," sasuke intervenes, earning a concerned look from his mother and looking at his father, "sakura works with me at the company. she's now my girlfriend."

she notices how it takes a toll on him to talk about himself like this even in front of his parents. fugaku nods like it's perfectly enough explanation for him, and his mother obviously expected a romantic story she could repeat to her future grandchildren.

they talk civilly and sakura never eats so well. everytime mikoto asks a different question sasuke stops munching on his food to listen intently to what she has to say, or prepare himself for questions he deems embarrassing.

after they finish eating and sakura casually pops a grape into her mouth, fugaku and sasuke excuse themselves to go look at something in the garage while sakura is left with sasuke's mother.

there's a comfortable silence she doesn't want to break because she feels like she'll ruin the first impression she made, but when she's about to make small talk mikoto already opened her mouth to say something.

"you're such a lovely girl, sakura," she says dreamily, her head cocked to one side as if she's admiring the first girlfriend her son has brought home.

"thank you," sakura says, unable to say anything else. her cheeks are burning, her head hangs low.

"i know you're making my son happy. he's not good at expressing himself, as you obviously noticed already," she laughs and sakura smiles weakly, "he's like my husband in this way, but our family loves hard, and if sasuke brought you here today it only means he cherishes you above anything else."

when sasuke comes back a moment later, he asks something from his mother and catches sakura with teary, gleaming eyes. she lies to him that she's perfectly alright, but in reality she feels like her heart might burst out of her chest in happiness.

*  
sasuke barely contacts her in the last few days, only responding to her worried texts and showing up after work to drive her home, and even then he doesn't stay with her. 

"have i done something wrong?" she asks when they're stuck in traffic and his fingers drum on the steering wheel. he doesn't even move his head to look at her.

"sasuke-kun," her hand settles on his knee and he finally looks at her.

"it's not you," he says easily, "you're perfect."

she's startled both by the unusual praise and the sorrowful tone of his voice. she prides herself on giving him time and letting him go at his own pace in this relationship, but these days he barely acknowledges her.

"then what is it?" 

sasuke sighs."i can't take more of this job, and this city. sometimes i feel like this life isn't meant for me."

he's been like this since naruto got promoted, she realizes. there's always been some sort of rivalry between the two she doesn't understand, because it can get so violent in the blink of an eye. she had to separate them once.

"maybe you need some time," she says thoughtlessly.

the road is forgotten as he glances at her, and then stares off the distance. " maybe."

*  
she hears from the chatters in the cafeteria that he quit, and he did not tell her. it's hard to focus on her work and even harder to ignore the continuous stares the employees direct at her.

being around ino is even worse as she knows everything that's going on. she texts sasuke to come drive her home, or if they can meet, but her texts are left unanswered.

*  
she catches itachi days later by wandering around the subway station where she's met him once by pure coincidence. he smiles widely once he recognizes her, and she wishes she could do the same.

he offers to let her meet his brother at their own home while he keeps his parents busy.

sasuke looks like he expected her, the same detached look greets her as she steps foot in his personal bedroom.

"talk to me," she says softly and comes to sit next to him on his bed. 

"what do you want me to say?"

she frowns, frustrated with his new demeanour. she expected it would be difficult to make him open up to her, but right now she's exhausted and hurt and the first thing she wants to ask is if he still wants to be with her, but she shoves that question to the back of her mind and focuses on his mental health.

"i want to know if you're okay," she reaches for his face and smells the scent of old tobacco on his shirt, "and what can i do to make you feel better."

"don't worry about me," he says, avoiding her gaze.

"don't," she forces him to face her. she's running out of sleep and the insecurity that he will leave her churns inside her, "don't tell me not to worry, not when you're like this. whatever pain you feel right now, i want to feel it too. i want to be connected to you in every way and help you with the best of my ability."

he blinks and sighs, most likely unbelievably tired. "i want to leave this place. go around the world, see what it's like out there. sitting around in a office and waiting for someone to see what i'm capable of just isn't for me anymore."

"take me with you," sakura implores him without thinking, but she knows in her heart it's what she wants, truly.

"sakura," he calls softly, "don't throw away everything you worked hard for just because of me."

the tears start flowing down her cheeks before she can control them. 

"i can't," she tells him and the words she wants to say don't come out. she's so scared he will leave and never come back. she can't bear the thought of going forward without hearing his voice and feeling him under her fingertips. "i don't want to live like an empty shell and regret letting you go by yourself. mom and dad, ino and naruto.. they will understand. please, sasuke-kun, let me come with you."

sasuke closes his eyes, inching closer to press a kiss on her lips. her forehead bumps against his, he waits for a moment, and then he nods.

*  
she sends several texts to her mother, reassuring her they reached their destination. she replaces the high heels with comfortable sandals and grows accustomed to washing her clothes in rivers. sasuke complains about the lack of cigarettes as they make their way through tiny mountains and stop to admire the view. 

sasuke is a fast learner whenever he puts his mind to it, so she doesn't worry about fitting into the new way of life they've thrown themselves into, but she's pleased with how quickly and easily she adapts to a life into the wild. 

and with the stars as their only witnesses, sasuke learns to tell her more while she promises to listen.


End file.
